1 - The Black Vault

PRAETORIAN STARSHIP
Tempo Surge was having its affect on the enemy.
Radio Hanoi and other communist-oriented radio
stations in SEA devoted hours of broadcast time
trying to negate the effects of the campaign. Instructions
were broadcast directing the populace
to immediately destroy individual leaflets before
reading them, and campaigns were begun
to collect large quantities of leaflets for ceremonial
burning. The leaflets covered a myriad of
subjects, including Henry Kissinger’s secret
peace talks in Paris, messages from President
Nixon and other US officials, and conditions of
North Vietnamese troops on the battlefield. 131
One special mission tasked to the 1st SOS during
Tempo Surge was the dropping of packages
containing small transistor radios with batteries.
The radios were pretuned to stations that broadcast
information and music prepared by the Asian
version of Radio Free Europe. The mission was
effective in reaching North Vietnamese farmers,
soldiers, and peasants who could not read. 132
Concurrent with increased temporary duty assignments
to SEA, training requirements continued
at an accelerated pace. Two crews deployed to
Clark AB, Philippines, for week-long, low-level
training in the rugged mountains there. Each deployment
accomplished more than 20 training sorties,
with low-level operations being emphasized.
Because Kadena AB was located on the island of
Okinawa, only minimal training could be accomplished
at home station. Limited airdrop, surfaceto-air
recovery, and assault landing operations
could be completed at the training area at Ie
Shima. With the arrival of the two Yank aircraft,
which were not Fulton-equipped, recovery training
requirements were reduced to two STARSqualified
aircrews. 133 The 1st SOS maintained the
STARS capability until August 1973, when the
last Fulton-equipped aircraft (64-0566) was transferred
to the 318th SOS at Pope AFB.
1973: Cease-Fire in Vietnam
As the New Year began, the 1st SOS continued
to support Tempo Surge. During the first 28 days
of January, the squadron flew 46 PSYOPS/leaflet
missions, often changing targets and/or routings
just before takeoff to accommodate the rapidly
changing battlefield environment in Vietnam. The
tactical situation was changing each hour due in
part to the volatile political situation leading up
to the cease-fire agreement. At 0000Z on 28 January
1973, the cease-fire agreement was signed,
thus bringing to a close direct American military
involvement in Vietnam. The 1st SOS’s role in
Tempo Surge was brought to an end with the
signing of the cease-fire. 134
The PSYOPS campaign had its affect on the
cease-fire process. The North Vietnamese became
so enraged at some of the leaflets that they began
naming individual leaflets delivered by the 1st
SOS in their retaliatory propaganda broadcasts.
Several messages were received from higher
headquarters congratulating the squadron on its
superior performance, the most notable of which
came from Kissinger himself. In a 7 February
1973 letter, Kissinger stated:
The President greatly appreciated the very effective
manner in which the Department of Defense supported
the [US] Government’s psychological warfare campaign
against North Vietnam. Among the many tasks undertaken
with great dedication and professionalism, that of
creating a variety of specialized leaflets and dropping
them in the hundreds of millions, was a noteworthy
accomplishment. These efforts contributed markedly to
the success of the program designed to help bring an
end to hostilities. 135
When the cease-fire was established for Vietnam,
1st SOS tasking was shifted to Cambodia.
Although the intensity of activities lessened, the
squadron continued to fly daily sorties into Cambodian
airspace with one aircraft and crew assigned
to its FOL. On 17 February the 1st SOS
moved its FOL from NKP to Takhli RTAFB, Thailand,
where better facilities were available with
less crowding. Unit aircraft were utilized to move
assets from NKP to Takhli RTAFB. During the
move, the squadron continued to fly tasked missions
into Cambodia, not canceling a single sortie.
136
While high-level combat operations were being
flown out of the FOL in Thailand, low-level training
requirements continued to challenge squadron
members back at Kadena AB. In its 14 March
1973 message, Thirteenth AF notified the 1st
SOS that all low-level flights were canceled over
the Philippine island of Luzon. The message cited
political reasons for the termination of low-level op -
erations. 137 As a result of the loss of training, on 22
March the squadron began flying low-level route
surveys in South Korea. Up to that time, the squadron
depended almost exclusively on the Philippines
for low-level proficiency training. The mountainous
terrain found in South Korea proved to be even more
challenging than the routes flown in the Philippines.
138 Required agreements were finalized during
April, and the routes were operational in May. The
1st SOS was authorized to conduct low-level operations
at night, three times a week, by the 314th AD
(located at Osan AB, Republic of Korea) and by the
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